Situation
by Warsden
Summary: Edward runs into some minor trouble while baby-sitting and calls upon Mustang for help, turning what could have been a bad day into something more exciting RoyEd, post-Brotherhood, slight AU. AN towards the end


Tripping over yet another toy he cursed quietly, picking it up and placing it in the basket he carried in his arms. Standing back up and stretching he looked up. Judging from the time of the year and the placement of the sun, it was around noon. Before the rays could damage his golden eyes he lowered his gaze, feeling a tug on his apron.

"Brother, brother! I found a caterpillar!"

Edward smiled at the young boy, knealing down to ruffle the brunette's hair. "It's cute, Tyler, but I don't think your mom will have the same thoughts." He paused, noticing the drop in his gaze, shoulders slouching. "Did you name him?"

Grinning once again, Tyler looked up at held it out to him. "His name is Harry, since he's so _hairy_!"

"What a fitting name...punny." He complimented, standing back up once more. "How about we get..-" He stopped suddenly, feeling off balance. His head spun and his stomach churned, causing him to drop the basket and run towards the house. Confused and concerned, the five-year old followed him.

When the younger caught up to him he was on his knees, head in the toilet. Grimacing for only a moment, Tyler ran out of the room and came back, catepillar now gate-knows-where, knealing next to his baby sitter and pulling his hair back that was tied in a tail.

Edward glanced at him, smirking a little. "Thanks, little man."

"Mommy does this for my sister when she's sick." Tyler said, patting the man's back. "And she rubs her back and says nice things to her." He cleared his throat, mimicking his mother. "There, there, it's okay."

Edward chuckled and nodded, head still in close proximity of the bowl in case of an emergency. "Your mom knows what she's doing, then." After a few moments Edward looked back at him. "You don't have to stay in here, you know."

"It smells really gross." Tyler made a face, scrunching up his nose, making the blond laugh again. "And I wanna play with Harry, but mom said when someone's sick, you take care of them."

"It's a bit backwards right now." Edward commented. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you and making you lunch."

Tyler pouted. "Well I'm not the one who's sick. Family takes care of each other, brother!"

_Brother_..."Right, I know that." Ed nodded, dropping his head. "Hey, little man, hand me the phone." He smiled. "I'm gonna call your mom, okay?"

Tyler nodded quickly and stood up, saluting with the wrong hand and running away. They'd often play "military" together, as Edward still was technically with the Amestrian military and provided research for them. He'd told the toddler of all his tales of fighting bad guys when he'd run out of other things to say, and to say the least, Tyler was intruiged immediately.

Said child came running back, slowing as Edward scorned him (as it was dangerous), and handed him the phone. Edward flushed the toilet before washing his hands and dialing Mindy's number, hoping she wasn't too busy.

"Barnet Law, this is Mindy!"

"Hey, it's Ed-" He was cut off as the woman became concerned, spewing questions at the young man. "No, no, Miss Kershaw, nothing's wrong with Tyler, uh...it's actually me...I got sick, I can't really take care of him today, I don't know what's wrong and I don't want to make him sick, too-"

Mindy fidgeted with the phone cord, unsure of what to do. She looked back at her boss, who wasn't giving her the nicest of looks, and hid away from him, tugging at the end of her hair. "Ahh..I can't..really come home right now! How about you call someone you know to help you?"

"You trust me doing that?" Edward sounded skeptical, though he had been babysitting for this woman for two years now, maybe it shouldn't have come to him as a surprise.

"Of course!" She replied happily. "Whoever you trust, I trust!"

Edward let a pause hang on the line before he nodded to himself. "Sure, I can do that. We'll see you in a few hours. You too...bye."

Tyler was waiting anxiously beside the older, eager to hear his mother's verdict. Edward, still a little dizzy, put on hand on the counter and one on his hip. "A'ight, little man. I'm gonna call someone to help us make lunch and take care of the both of us. That cool? I'm really close to him."

Tyler nodded, excited to meet someone new, and watched Edward dial the mystery friend's number.

"General Mustang." His voice was curt, always official, making Edward chuckle.

"We've got a bit of a situation."

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing his forehead. "How can we have a situation? I thought you were baby sitting, not getting into trouble."

"Well I ran into some trouble baby sitting-"

"Oh no, don't tell me the kid is dead-"

"Shut u-" Stopping himself, Edward took a deep breath. "No, no, nothing like that. I'm sick and can't take care of Tyler alone-swing by?"

Thinking about it momentarily, Roy checked the clock. "Hon, I've still got 5 hours left on the clock."

"So take a half day, _darling_. Not like you're actually working, anyway."

Roy's teammates chuckled at the pet name 'Hon', making faces at him as he continued his conversation. "I suppose you're right. I'll swing by." He held his fingers in a snapping postion, scaring his subordinates into obedience. "Give me ten minutes."

"You're a life saver."

"Always."

Roy hung up the phone, actually more than happy to ditch his paperwork and meet the kid Edward always talked about. Four years now they had been dating, two of those spent baby sitting Tyler, and he hadn't even met the kid yet. The child called Edward his older brother!

He stood up and arranged his desk, receiving an odd glance from Hawkeye. "Going somewhere?"

"Yes, Major, I'm taking a half day to assist Fullmetal."

"Aww, Musty misses his 'Hon'." Havoc teased in a mocking voice, dodging the pen that was whipped at him.

"For your information, Havoc, Edward is actually sick and needs someone there to help him take care of the child he babysits." He threw his nose up in the air and walked past them. "Now excuse me."

"Give our regards to Ed, Sir!" Feury called, saluting. "Tell him to feel better!"

Roy only gave the bespectaled man a half wave, leaving the office. It was a short drive to Edward's house, arriving in almost exactly ten minutes as he had promised. When he got out his car he spotted Edward sitting on the steps, steaming cup in hand watching Tyler play with the caterpillar he had found (and thank gate he had relocated it out of the Elric home).

Upon hearing the car door Tyler looked up, watching the stranger cautiously. Roy approached him carefully with a soft smile, knealing next to him and holding his hand out. "You must be Tyler-General Roy Mustang, at your service."

Too excited to shake the man's hand, Tyler let the biggest smile he'd ever smiled grace his face. "You're the one brother talks about in his stories! Daddy, too! You helped save Amestris, right?!"

Surprised the boy had heard so much, he nodded, smirking. "I am. Saved your brother's butt too many times to count."

"Funny, he calls you a butt somtimes!"

Roy pouted at the blond on the steps, who hid behind his mug. He smiled sweetly at him before Tyler pulled on his arms. "Come inside! Make lunch and tell me more stories!"

Roy followed the boy inside, stripping his coat and leaving it on the couch as he always had. Contemplating, he removed the military one as well, leaving it with the other. Edward had already helped Tyler into his seat by the time Roy entered the kitchen, watching the man sit none-too-gracefully in the other chair.

Noticing his concerned stare, Edward smiled. "Make lunch, worry about me later." Standing back up instead, he made his way to the living room. "I'm gonna lay down on the couch-I can trust you in my kitchen, right?"

Roy gave him a flat stare before the blond smirked, leaving the room. Roy rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt and put his hands on his hips. "Alright, Tyler, what do we want for lunch?"

"Cookies and ice cream!"

"No way!" Edward called from the living room. He laid curled up on the couch, not opening his eyes when he addressed the other two. "Healthy snacks, Ty!"

The child pouted momentarily before looking back to Roy. "Can I have brocolli and cheese noodles?"

Roy looked up to Ed for confirmation. Upon hearing no objections he agreed, getting everything out. "Be done before you can say 'yes sir'!"

Tyler wiggled in his seat, watching the Flame Alchemist work. "Is it fun working with Brother?Do you fight bad guys together?"

Roy nodded, chuckling. "We do. Whenever Edward isn't here taking care of you, he's out taking care of everyone else." He boiled some water, turning around and leaning against the counter. "He's a very giving and caring young man."

Tyler, as young as he was, didn't miss the glance the two gave to each other upon Roy's words. Silent for a moment he adjusted his seating, looking eager. "Are you really close to Brother?"

Roy stared at him, cocking his head to the side. "Brother said you two are very close, and he talks about you a lot."

Roy beamed, understanding. "Of course we're close. Very close."

"Do you love him?" Tyler whispered, hiding his hand from Edward so he wouldn't hear.

Caught off again, Roy crossed his arms and gave a faint smile. "Yes, very much so."

"Does Brother love you?"

"I'd hope he does, yes."

Tyler slid off his seat, running into the living room and bending down by the couch Edward had occupied. "Psst, Brother-"

"Yes Ty." Came his tired reply, eyes still shut.

"Do you love Mr. Mustang?"

Finally the golden orbs snapped open and he looked up, propping himself up by his elbow. He glanced at Roy, then back to Tyler. "Yes I do. Why?"

"Because he really loves you. He told me." He replied innocently, gripping the edge of the couch. "I knew because he looks at you the way daddy used to look at mommy."

Feeling a pain in his chest, Edward frowned for just a moment, trying to smile again. "You knew, just from that...?"

"Daddy used to say really nice things about mommy." Tyler continued. "He'd tell me how caring she was and how much she liked to help people, that's why she's a lawyer." He looked down, chocolate eyes shifting. "And mommy used to tell a lot of stories about daddy-about how he fought crime like you and Mr. Mustang do. She'd say all these great things about him too, just like you and Mr. Mustang do!" He grinned at his babysitter. "Daddy really loved mommy, and mommy really loved daddy, just like they love us!"

Swallowing hard, Edward dropped his head, nodding. "Your mom talks about your dad a lot. It was quite the adventure working with him, too." He looked up at Tyler and tilted his head. "Yeah, go tell Mr. Mustang I love him too."

Nodding, the brunette jumped up from his spot, little legs carrying him as quick as possible to the kitchen. Making sure to shut off the water before dismissing it, Roy knealed down to let Tyler whisper in his ear.

"Brother says he loves you too!"

Roy smiled, hand coming up to rub his chin in thought. He dug something out of his pocket, out of Ed's line of view, and handed it to Tyler, whispering something to him. Excited, Tyler nodded and saluted the soldier, standing up to run back to the living room.

Curious, Edward watched the child run back with a small black box, holding it up and opening it for the blond to see. "Mr. Mustang asked me to ask you if you'd marry him!"

Taken back, Edward quickly glanced up and locked eyes with Roy, who just sat there with a small but loving smirk on his face. Blushing furiously Edward took the ring, whispering back to Tyler and watching him run back to the kitchen.

"He said yes!"

Roy ruffled the kids hair, grinning. "Couldn't have done it without you, Private. I'm rewarding you with a promotion!" He bowed to the child, one hand behind his back. "Congratulations, Specialist Tyler Kershaw!"

The boy beamed with excitment and jumped up and down. Roy turned around to continue with lunch, letting things settle down. Tyler jumped back up into his seat and waited patiently, still over-zealous over his new title.

"I'm going to be a great officer, just like my dad was!"

Roy paused, the memory of Colonel Kershaw flashing through his mind. He smiled, looking at Tyler over his shoulder. "I don't doubt it a bit."

-/v\-

Mindy came by a few hours later, thanking the two officers for watching her son and paying them both, not listening to Roy's objection. Tyler, of course, didn't hesitate to go on a spiel of the day's events, telling her everything as they walked down the walkway. She gave a warm smile to the two men who worked beside her husband, bidding them good luck and buckling Tyler in, driving away moments later.

Edward, wrapped in a blanket now, sighed quietly and furrowed his eyebrows. Roy, knowing immediately what he was thinking, wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Tyler's like your Elysia, huh?" He asked, tilted his head to the other. Edward, only an inch shorter than his superior, nodded numbly.

"His father really was a great guy..." He mumbled, tired. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for what he did for me. I owe him that much to be there for his son and daughter and keep their memories of him alive, right?" He looked up at his now fiance', golden eyes looking for an answer.

Roy nodded. "Just like I take care of Elysia." He rubbed Ed's shoulder and pulled him inside. "Come on, now it's time to take care of you. Let's get you some sleep."

-/v\-

**Oh my-I woke up at six AM to write this I am so sorry if it's bad terribly sorry I am a terrible writer good day**


End file.
